GPS-and-smartphone platforms, beginning with Uber in 2009 and joined by Didi, Grab and Ola, let passengers summon and pay for rides from drivers tracked in real time, while dockless shared bikes and e-scooters spread from around 2017. These services matched supply and demand algorithmically and dispatched fleets that reorganised how kerb space was used for pick-up, drop-off and parking. They competed directly with conventional taxis and public transit while operating largely outside existing licensing rules. Rapid growth drew them into protracted regulatory and labour disputes in many cities.
They disrupted urban mobility and the regulatory and licensing regimes built around taxis and transit. By adding flexible, on-demand options they also intensified congestion, kerbside conflict and debates over precarious gig labour.